Apple released updated developer guidelines on Tuesday for making in-app purchases in the App Store. One of the marquee features in the revamped App Store in iOS 11, the guidelines instruct developers on how to code their in-app purchases to be displayable and purchasable directly on the App Store.
“Starting this fall, your app must handle App Store transactions of promoted in-app purchases in order for your in-app purchases to be displayed on the App Store,” the company wrote in a Developer Connection blog post.
In-App Purchases in the App Store
This feature will allow consumers to see exactly what kind of in-app purchases are part of this app. This will make “free to play” apps more transparent, and it will help consumers make more informed decisions. It will also help developers promote those in-app purchases, as some in-app purchases will be promoted by Apple.
During the beta period, however, those in-app purchases are displayed, but can’t yet be purchased.
For developers:
Once the GM version of Xcode 9 is released, simply implement the new delegate method within SKPaymentTransactionObserver, rebuild your app, and submit for review. You can also customize which promoted in-app purchases a user sees on a specific device with the SKProductStorePromotionController API.
iOS 11 is expected to ship as early as September. The rumored date for the media event is currently September 12th.